Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Chapel Hill

The community is encouraged to celebrate the thriving cultures and values of the Indigenous Peoples today -- on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The Chapel Hill Town Council adopted a resolution in 2015 recognizing the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day in Chapel Hill.

An excerpt of the resolution: “The Town of Chapel Hill recognizes the fact that Orange County, NC, is built upon the homelands and villages of the Indigenous Peoples of this region; and our region is home to many immigrants who are members of Indigenous Communities throughout México, Central America and South America who have brought their ancestral languages, traditions and cultures to our region.”

Indigenous Peoples’ Day was first proposed in 1977 by the delegation of Native Nations to the United Nations. It wasn’t until 2010 that the United States endorsed a United Nations declaration that recognized “indigenous peoples have suffered from historic injustices as a result of … their colonization and dispossession of their lands, territories and resources.”